Sunday, January 29, 2023

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 29 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay told Bush Saddam wanted Iraqis to believe Iraq still had WMD to prevent revolts by Kurds and Shiites

(AP)

 

1917 British captured Ottoman fort at Khadairi Bend in campaign to recapture Kut

1941 Finance Min Suwaidi resigned as PM Gaylani’s cabinet disintegrated in dispute with

Regent over power

(Musings On Iraq review of Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)

1948 Sayid Mohammed al-Sadr became Iraq’s 2nd Shiite PM Opposition Istiqlal got 1 ministry

Ahrar refused to participate National Democratic Party not invited

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

1948 Up to 100,000 marched in Baghdad for 15 students killed in protests against Anglo-Iraq

Treaty PM Sadr and most of cabinet took part Part of Wathba/Great Leap

1953 Jamil al-Midfai became PM for 5th time

1982 King Hussein said Jordanian troops would be sent to Iraq to help in Iran-Iraq War

1987 Iran Op Karbala 5 crossed Jassim Canal in Basra with 3 days of human wave attacks

(Musings On Iraq review Armies of the Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1991 Iraq launched probing attack upon Saudi city of Khafji occupying it Supported by 3

deception attacks into Saudi Arabia Each moved several KM into Saudi Arabia but met no resistance and retreated

1991 Coalition started probing attacks into Khafji Saudi Arabia to test Iraqi defenses

1991 Report more than 100 German and western companies were providing nuclear know

how to Iraq right up to Jan 91 80s German company built WMD plants Swedish Austrian Italian French companies helped with missile program Iraq worked with Argentina on long range missile with help from German companies

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

(Musings On Iraq When The World Remembered It Armed The New Hitler Saddam)

2002 Bush State of Union called Iraq part of Axis of Evil Said it still had WMD programs

Iran and North Korea added to Axis of Evil speech because Bush admin didn’t want to be seen as focusing upon Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Future The aftermath of regime change)

(Musings On Iraq review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign

Policy Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

(Musings On Iraq Overview of America’s Policy Towards Iraq: From The Clinton Years To

The Sectarian War of 2006)

2003 UN Amb Negroponte said Iraq bought aluminum tubes for nuke program Were for

rockets

(Musings On Iraq How A Contested Aluminum Tubes Story Became The Basis For War With Iraq)

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld said Iraq had a nuke weapons program and tried to buy uranium from

Africa Didn’t happen

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

2003 Sec State Powell Chief of Staff Wilkerson went over info to be used in Powell speech to

UN at CIA HQ

2003 State’s Wilkerson rejected using Cheney Chief of Staff’s briefing as basis for Sec Sate

Powell’s UN speech CIA Dir Tenet said NIE on Iraq should be used instead

2003 Aid groups warned that if Pentagon ran postwar Iraq many international donors would

be reluctant to give relief

(Musings On Iraq review Losing Iraq, Inside The Post War Reconstruction Fiasco)

2003 CIA report Said had been Iraq-Al Qaeda contacts Said Iraq offered safe haven to Al

Qaeda Found no evidence Iraq involved in 9/11 Came out after Dep Dir of Intel at CIA told CIA Dir Tenet he would resign unless VP Cheney chief of staff Libby stopped demanding changes in report Libby argued Iraq-Al Qaeda cooperated Libby Cheney Dep Def Sec Wolfowitz Under Sec Def for Policy Feith believed CIA politicized intel by not saying there was cooperation

2004 NatlSecAdv Rice said what US predicted about Iraq WMD before war not what found

afterward Rice said Saddam deceived US and world about his WMD

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

(Musings On Iraq How The Administration Reversed Itself On Finding Iraq’s WMD)

(Musings On Iraq review Hoodwinked, The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

2004 State Dept said failure to find out about Iraq’s WMD was not US failure but

international one

2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay told Bush Saddam wanted Iraqis to believe country had

WMD when it didn't Said he thought Saddam destroyed his WMD stocks because too easy to find Bush asked Kay why Saddam didn’t admit he had no WMD Kay said Saddam wanted fear to stop revolts by Shiites and Kurds

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 1.1 UK Iraq Strategy 1990 To 2000)

2005 RAND Corp Iraq became center for jihadist cause and cause of terrorism in rest of world

2005 Human Rights Watch US Abu Ghraib prison scandal became recruitment tool for

terrorists

2006 Al Qaeda sent 2nd letter to Ansar al-Sunnah saying it sent representative to Iraq to work

out issues with Al Qaeda in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2006 Sharia Committee for the Army of the Followers of the Sunnah and the Collective

joined Mujahedeen Shura Council Emir of group was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

2006 Report after US made deal with sheikhs in Ramadi against Al Qaeda in Iraq in mid-Jan

3 sheikhs assassinated leading tribes to retaliate against AQI

(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq How A Change In Perceptions Led To The Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq review Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

(Musings On Iraq review Illusions of Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)

(Musings On Iraq review The Sheriff of Ramadi, Navy SEALS and the Winning of Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

2006 Report 3 Islamist insurgent groups once aligned with Al Qaeda in Iraq in Ramadi broke

with it

2006 National Security Adviser Rubaie said Al Qaeda in Iraq feuding with Islamic Army and

Mujahedeen Army

(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

2007 Report US officials skeptical whether PM Maliki would back Surge and go after Sadr US

didn't tell Maliki about raids on Sadrists because he would try to stop them Maliki got US to release arrested Sadrists US intelligence tapped Maliki’s conversations and confirmed he was telling his advisers he would back Surge

2008 PM Maliki refused to have officials close to him be investigated for corruption

(Musings On Iraq Corruption In Iraq An Interview With Stuart Bowen Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Trouble Fighting Corruption Interview With Vincent Foulk Former US Anti-Graft Official)

2008 Suspicious fires at Central Bank of Iraq and Labor Ministry Some MPs claimed this was

to destroy documents implicating officials in corruption

2008 Iraqi Red Crescent reported 46,000 refugees returned to Iraq Driving up housing prices

in Baghdad Many couldn’t return to their homes because demographics changed during civil war and militia control

(Musings On Iraq review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2009 Report parties offering money for votes in Dhi Qar Independent candidates asked to

take bribes and give votes to bigger parties

2010 PM Blair testified to Chilcot Inquiry that Saddam was a threat to the world that had to

be dealt with That if Iraq wasn’t invaded in 2003 world would have to deal with Saddam later and could have been more difficult Said 9/11 changed perceptions of Iraq in both US and England

(Musings On Iraq Was Iraq An Imminent Threat To The West?)

2010 Southern Clans Council who supported Iraqiya threatened to boycott 2010

vote to protest banning 511 candidates for Baathist ties

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2010 Ninewa Gov Nujafi started no confidence vote against KDP mayor of Sinjar who then

sued Nujafi

(Musings On Iraq Political Disputes Continue in Ninewa)

2011 Report Many questioned whether Iraq could reach 12 mil/bar/day in oil production goal it set itself

Some thought it was a political announcement that Iraq would be bigger play in OPEC Org for Econ Cooperation and Development didn’t believe Iraq could reach 12 mil/bar Said could take 20 yrs just to reach 6 mil/bar Iraq needed $150 bil in investment in oil industry Also political uncertainty 

2013 Maliki govt said it was increasing pay to sahwa to appease protesters

2013 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq attacked hospital in Sadr City 10 gunmen came into hospital fired shots smashed

equipment and fought security guards Source said men came after husband refused to allow doctor to check his wife

2013 Report KRG Natural Resource Min Hawrami warned BP about taking deal on Kirkuk oil field BP

wanted to rehabilitate field Hawrami said any deal had to be approved by Kirkuk and KRG

2013 Report DNO stock prices dropped Nov 2012 KRG cut oil exports Dec 2012 KRG stopped oil

exports for Baghdad Said Baghdad owed oil companies in KRG over $200 mil VP Shahristani said Baghdad wouldn’t pay DNO was 1st company to drill for oil in Iraq after 2003

2013 Report Iraq’s goal of 12 mil/bar/day in oil production impossible due to lack of infrastructure and

logistics

2013 Agriculture declined in Iraq Sanctions hurt imports for farming 1990s agriculture was 7% of GNP After

2003 farming production increased 90% Then farm workers left to work for govt Also drought 2008 govt doubled prices for farm products but had no effect on production Iraq lacked distribution networks for products Farming didn’t provide steady income Agriculture Min reported drop in number of farmers and areas under production Govt provides most of the inputs to farming like fertilizer and seeds Farming suffered from cheap imports 2011 govt tried to limit imports but led to skyrocketing prices and failed 

2013 VP Shahristani said 2 protesters recently killed were actually ISI members

2015 Report VP Maliki trying to ingratiate himself with Hashd to gain power Met with Hashd leaders in

Jan Was highlighted in media and on Internet Maliki told Dawa meeting Hashd was his idea Went to memorial for Lebanese Hezbollah members killed

2015 Report Baghdad and KRG arguing over budget and oil dispute PM Abadi said KRG didn’t follow

budget to export 250,000 bar/day of oil for Baghdad KRG said didn’t receive monthly budget payments from Baghdad Nov-Dec 2014 KRG cut oil exports for Baghdad KRG spokesman admitted KRG didn’t meet budget quota but said would make up for it by end of 2015 Nov 2014 KRG agreed to export 150,000 bar/day for Oil Min in return for $500 mil/mo in budget payments from Baghdad Exported oil in Nov-Dec 2014 DC PM Abadi and KRG PM Barzani made follow up deal for 2015 budget that had KRG exporting 250,000 bar/day of oil for Baghdad Dec 2014 KRG Natural Resource Min Hawrami said KRG had right to export oil independently Oil companies in KRG Genel Energy DNO Gulf Keystone owned $250 mil for oil exports KRG also owed money to creditors

2015 Report Interviewed 5 survivors of town attacked by ISF and Hashd in Diyala Said men in military

uniforms took and shot people Beat people Said sectarian slogans 72 people killed PM Abadi ordered investigation Nothing happened

2015 Report KRG ops in north Iraq seized most of the disputed areas Angered Arabs Some Arabs not

allowed to move back to liberated areas Some KRG officials said they wouldn’t allow Arabs to control disputed areas again Also organized friendly Shabaks Yazidis Assyrians into militias under Peshmerga After KRG op in northeast Diyala minister accused Peshmerga of destroying 700 homes Said KRG blocking Arabs from returning to Jalawla Diyala Similar claims in Ninewa

2015 Report Yazidis taking revenge upon Arabs in Ninewa that helped IS Burned looted kidnapped and

killed 75 people in 2 villages in Sinjar Attacked 2 other villages afterwards

2015 Report 72 people killed in Diyala village by Hashd and ISF Hashd arrived in town with wanted list

and started killing people One local official blamed deaths on fighting with IS Another said all those killed were IS

2016 Report Life in Tikrit returned to normal Market open People shopping 70-90% of resident

returned Sunni police Hashd flags fly all over city Hashd took over presidential complex People accused of being IS sympathizers not allowed back Around 120,000 Sunnis not allowed back to Tikrit and surrounding areas Tribes want blood money but only Shiites ones were given any payments

2017 Report At least 345 families expelled from Tikrit for IS ties ISF evicted family and sent it to

displaced camp Salahaddin Dep Gov said expulsions were message to IS families PM Abadi criticized expulsions Head of Salahaddin Ops Command said critics should not interfere in expulsions

2017 Report Trump’s order banning immigration from Iraq shocked Iraqi officials Learned about it

from media not US Embassy Order blocked Iraqis from entering Iraq for 90 days

2018 Parliament voted to end sanctions on banks doing business in Kurdistan and sent $210

mil in salaries for KRG’s Health and Education Ministry workers

(Musings On Iraq Baby Steps Towards Reconciliatoin Between Iraq’s Central And Regional Govts)

2018 Report After IS took Mosul banned cigarettes Told women they had to stay at home Got rid of

opponents Set up intel network to spy on population Went through city docs to find out who owned what Labeled homes of and shops owned by Christians Told had to convert to Islam pay tax or leave Mosul Some Christians arrested or taken as sex slaves Banned all mixing of men and women Confiscated property given to IS members

2018 Report Babil’s Jurf al-Sakhr freed 3 yrs ago still empty of all people Aug 2017 Babil govt said

60% of displaced had returned Displacement Min said that was propaganda Head of parliament’s displacement comm said no civilians in dist Said decision to allow people back was under control of another country meaning Iran Babil govt said displaced were working with IS Also claimed most of the homes in dist destroyed and displaced had already settled in Baghdad Aug 2017 Babil govt voted to block any returns to Jurf al-Sakhr

2019 Report PM Abdul Mahdi issued new order to create anti-corruption council Officials were

to disclose finances Ministries and commissions to develop plans to monitor programs and policies Govt was to create anti-corruption strategy Parliament was to pass anti-corruption law Make anti-corruption agencies to cooperate Make judiciary independent Nothing happened

2020 Fatah and Sadr’s Sairoon nominated Mohammed Allawi for PM Opposed by State of Law

 Nomination failed

2020 Member of Human Rights Comm said 121 activists kidnapped or assassinated since Oct

2019 49 assassinated or survived attempts 68 kidnapped 56 of those still missing

(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)

(Musings On Iraq United Nations Faults Iraq For Failing To Protect Protesters)

2020 Report Jan US killed Iran’s Gen Suleimani and Hashd leader Abu Muhandis 2 days later

parliament voted on resolution to have all foreign forces leave Iraq Was backed by PM Abdul Mahdi PM said killings were aggression vs Iraq US tried to stop parliamentary vote but failed Jun 2014 PM Maliki asked US forces to help fight IS All Iraq had to do was give a formal notice for US to leave PM met with US ambassador and told US had to comply with parliament’s resolution PM didn’t tell Foreign Ministry to formal request US leave Cmdr of US troops in Iraq sent letter to Iraq saying would start pulling out Letter leaked and Pentagon said it was a mistake US Sec Def Esper said US not leaving Abdul Mahdi said he took letter as official Trump White House rejected withdrawing Sec State Pompeo met with Abdul Mahdi over issue Trump said he wanted to withdraw US forces but now threatened sanctions on Iraq if forced US out

2021 Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Kataib Hezbollah working in west Syria Got new

missiles from Iran

(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)

2021 Report 2 drone strikes on Saudi Arabia Could have come from Kataib Hezbollah’s base in Babil’s

Jurf al-Sakhr Pro-Iran channels in Iraq supported attacks

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